Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette I Penny Weaver
Attendees listen to opening remarks, Thursday, Nov, 7, 2024, during a town hall inside the Charleston High School gymnasium in Charleston. The public meeting was for residents and other stakeholders to discuss Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders' recent announcement of plans to build a new 3,000-bed prison near Vesta in Franklin County. The state spent $2.95 million to purchase a 815-acre property north of Charleston with plans to construct the prison there.
CHARLESTON -- A week ago, residents in this community learned that the State of Arkansas purchased 815 acres near Vesta with a plan to build a new 3,000-bed prison here.
Thursday night, hundreds of people who filled the Charleston High School gym for a town hall meeting to hear more information were told that within hours, the seven-member state Board of Corrections would vote whether to approve the project.
"It just feels like everything about this is sneaky," said Kasey Niemann of Lavaca, who owns property four miles from the proposed prison site, "and they're just trying to float it by us and hope that we lay down and deal with it.
"I feel like I've been lied to and told that where I live is not a community worth fighting for," added Niemann, sharing his thoughts after the nearly two-hour session.
Benny Magness, chairman of the Board of Corrections, said during the meeting that on Friday morning, the board plans to vote whether to approve the Charleston land for use to locate a new 3,000-bed prison.
Asked at the meeting Thursday whether he would consider postponing the vote, Magness flatly refused.
"The Board of Corrections, several times in the last year, keeps being blamed that we're 'stalling' building a prison. I'm tired of it," Magness said after the meeting. "Whatever my members do, they do.
"As chairman, I'm calling for the vote tomorrow (Nov. 8)," he added. "I'm not going to be a part anymore of being put in a position of having to defend ourselves that we're stalling the building of a 3,000-bed prison."
TRANSPARENCY QUESTIONED
Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders and other state officials announced the $2.95 million purchase of the land at 6310 S. Highway 251, about seven miles north of Charleston, on Oct. 31.
Sanders' office was represented Thursday at the town hall meeting by senior advisor Joe Profiri, formerly the secretary of the Department of Corrections.
"This site was under review for several months," Profiri said.
A major focus at the session was why the state arranged the land purchase without informing local residents or lawmakers who represent the region.
"Our local officials were informed about the state's proposed prison site only the afternoon before the purchase was finalized," said Rosemary Underwood, who gave a general opening statement representing the community at large.
A longtime Charleston resident, Underwood lives about 2 1/2 miles from the proposed prison site.
A panel of state officials including local legislative representatives and Department of Corrections leaders faced the community during the town hall session.
Among them were Rep. Jon Eubanks of District 46; state Sen. Gary Stubblefield of District 26; and state Sen. Bryan King of District 28.
"I was notified about this place two days before they closed on the location of this site," Stubblefield said.
He said he called the governor's office immediately.
"Are you telling me that you're closing on this before we even had a chance to sit down and talk about it?" Stubblefield said he asked the governor's staff.
The senator said he received no response to that question.
Pressed to say when the Franklin County acreage was chosen, Profiri said the governor's office intentionally played its cards close to the vest about the planned purchase.
"Ultimately it was important for the taxpayers, with regards to ensuring that there wasn't an escalation in the price and a bidding war, to keep it quiet," Profiri said, drawing boos from some people in the audience.
A moment later, questioned about next steps in the process to build a prison at the site, Profiri drew one of the biggest negative reactions of the night from the residents attending when he said, "We're going to be very transparent with you."
UNANSWERED QUESTIONS
Department of Corrections Secretary Lindsay Wallace said officials do not yet know if the proposed Charleston prison will house minimum or maximum security inmates.
The overall estimated cost of the corrections facility also has not been publicly estimated, officials said Thursday evening.
State officials said they spent months searching for a location as leaders address overcrowding in Arkansas' prison system.
Senator King was visibly angry discussing the lack of transparency the governor's office has shown and the unanswered questions about the prison plans.
"If they can't tell you the truth on the front end ... then how can you trust them on any type of process?" King said. "Our founding fathers set up a system where they didn't get things crammed down their throats."
He noted that Charleston residents can tell others such as civics teachers that they had no vote on this key development in their community.
"Tell them we're a Communist country and not an American democracy," King said.
NEW OPPOSITION
Earlier Thursday, a joint letter in opposition of the new prison was released by several legal organizations, non-partisan policy organizations and local criminal justice reform advocates, according to a joint press release from Arkansas Justice Reform Coalition and the group DecARcerate.
"In a state where so many households cannot come up with $100 for an emergency incident, it is fiscally irresponsible for Arkansas leadership to continue to waste taxpayer funds to build more prison beds that Arkansas can neither afford to build or to maintain," said Sarah Moore, executive director for the reform coalition. "Families are challenged each day to commit to a budget to cover their bare essentials and the state should be managing to this same challenge and is currently not fulfilling its obligation."
Zachary Crow of DecARcerate said the prison expansion emphasis by Arkansas leaders is myopic.
"Prison does nothing to address poverty, the mental health crisis, addictions, and systemic trauma," Crow said in the press release. Together we must demand better of our elected officials, in pursuit of a more just and equitable Arkansas."
Arkansas leaders have emphasized the positive economic impact of the proposed correctional facility on Franklin County and the wider area.
Hundreds of millions of dollars will be spent in one-time construction costs in Charleston, according to state officials, creating thousands of jobs.
Almost 800 permanent positions are expected to offer annual salaries of almost $50,000 at the completed correctional center, state officials have said.
Charleston has a population of about 2,588, according to U.S. census data from 2020. Franklin County's population in 2020 was noted as about 17,097.
Its September unemployment rate was 2.7 percent, the Arkansas Division of Workforce Services reported.
Marc Dietz, radio station owner and host, moderates, Thursday, Nov, 7, 2024, during a town hall inside the Charleston High School gymnasium in Charleston. The public meeting was for residents and other stakeholders to discuss Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders' recent announcement of plans to build a new 3,000-bed prison near Vesta in Franklin County. The state spent $2.95 million to purchase a 815-acre property north of Charleston with plans to construct the prison there.
Benny Magness (center, right), chairman of the Arkansas Board of Corrections, speaks, Thursday, Nov, 7, 2024, during a town hall inside the Charleston High School gymnasium in Charleston. The public meeting was for residents and other stakeholders to discuss Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders' recent announcement of plans to build a new 3,000-bed prison near Vesta in Franklin County. The state spent $2.95 million to purchase a 815-acre property north of Charleston with plans to construct the prison there.
Joe Profiri (far left), a senior advisor to the Governor, speaks, Thursday, Nov, 7, 2024, during a town hall inside the Charleston High School gymnasium in Charleston. The public meeting was for residents and other stakeholders to discuss Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders' recent announcement of plans to build a new 3,000-bed prison near Vesta in Franklin County. The state spent $2.95 million to purchase a 815-acre property north of Charleston with plans to construct the prison there.